Carol Nestler: Candidate for Easton selectman

What is the greatest challenge facing Easton in the next year and how will you address it if you are elected?

We are looking at large scale apartment complexes that would help get us to our affordable housing goals, but potentially put a great strain on our schools, our budget and may not fit with the culture of our town. There is discussion about changing our form of government. That change, if done correctly, will shift more power and influence back into the hands of our citizens. We have the issue of the forever shrinking amounts of local aid.

This past year the selectmen extended Town Administrator David Coltonís contract and increased his salary after hearing he was being considered for a job in another community. Was this a good decision and why or why not?

The amended contract that was made with the town administrator and selectmen was to negotiate away a promised zero percent increase and change it to a 5 percent increase for the upcoming fiscal year. Several years ago, during very difficult financial times, we asked our town employees to take a zero percent increase for one year. Shared sacrifice was needed to keep our town whole, minimize cuts in service and loss of jobs.

Large-scale affordable housing projects, or 40Bs, have made headlines over the past year. Selectmen are now reviewing three as Local Initiative Projects. Do you support LIPs in general and why and how would you determine what project is good for the community?

I think it is fantastic to be in a position of being able to accept or reject 40B projects. The Shovel Works was recently finished and there are several more 40B proposals in the works. As of the end of February, the Shovel Works project was only 25 percent rented with 85 units still vacant. It seems unwise to rush into adding two, large scale apartment complexes without stepping back and accessing the successes and shortfalls of those recently completed.

Do you support changing Eastonís structure from an open town meeting to a town council/town manager form of government?

Yes I do support a change in town government. We have a nice framework that we should use as a starting point. The proposed form of government would give the citizens more power and influence by having a councilor that lives in each precinct. That councilor will be more in tune with the needs of his constituents.

How do you rate the townís infrastructure?

A recent review by Dore & Whittier rated the upkeep of our municipal buildings as excellent. We invest every year in capital needs based on clearly defined rules and objectives. While not perfect or overfunded, we have systems in place to do routine maintenance and invest in new assets. A committee exists to prioritize the needed investments. The state had made promises of increasing funding for roads but then changed its mind, decreasing expected funding by over 30 percent.

Page 2 of 2 - How well do you think the town is using its community preservation funds and are all three areas of use - historical, open space and affordable housing - being funded adequately?

I think the CPC does a fine job of allocating and spending these funds. Each year they are presented with several opportunities to spend this money on projects the people of Easton truly value. I do feel when there are available funds, they should be used in lieu of bonding. Over the 10 years of the $500,000 bond for the Governor Ames Estate, we will pay in excess of $85,000 in interest charges.

What are your goals for the next year, if elected?

In addition to learning the ropes and the normal activity of the board, I would work towards changing the form of government; changing the culture of town government to one that is more open to discussion and debate, more respectful to its citizens and volunteers and more willing to acknowledge the work and listen to recommendations of other boards; and focusing on fiscal sustainability to ensure sufficient funding without undue burden on the taxpayer.